Sharewatch: Capital Rises As Choice Formats Merged

Capital Radio saw its share price rise yesterday, adding 0.44% to close at 404p. The company’s announcement that it will merge the programming content of its two Choice FM stations has been welcomed by investors, as the broadcaster seeks to present a stronger offering to advertisers.

The move will create a single programming schedule to be broadcast on both Choice FM’s North 107.1 and South 96.9 licences in London. Launching on 18 October, the new schedule will continue the station’s commitment to a wide range of specialist music of black origin (see Capital Unifies Choice Frequencies For Combined Output).

Elsewhere in radio, SMG‘s share price continued to drop, falling by 2.75% yesterday. The company recently announced the departure of Virgin Radio chief executive John Pearson, who will step down next year to re-address his work-life balance (see Virgin Radio Chief Executive Steps Down).

ITV‘s stock price dipped by 0.69% to 107žp. Earlier this week the broadcaster announced the completion of its deal to buy SMG’s stake in breakfast broadcaster GMTV. ITV now owns 75% of the operation, with the remaining 25% share held by The Walt Disney Company (see ITV Completes Acquisition Of GMTV).

The FTSE 100 was slow yesterday, losing 13.1 points to close down at 4,634.8 while the FTSE 250 fell even further, losing 41.6 points to close at 6,271.3.

The closing prices of media company shares on Wednesday were: